The present invention relates to a casting apparatus and process using a pyrometer for viewing a hot melt-filled mold.
Pyrometers are commonly used to monitor temperature of hot or molten metal. In attempts to improve the accuracy of the pyrometer reading, various pyrometer positions and viewing areas have been proposed, such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,444,516 where a pyrometer probe uses a bundle of optical fibers for determining temperature of molten materials in a high pressure chamber.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,647,222 discloses a pyrometer mounted directly above the center of a melt in a caster.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,737,038 discloses a pyrometer probe for immersion in a molten metal charge.
It is an object of the present invention to provide casting method and apparatus using a pyrometer to view a hot melt-filled refractory mold in a manner to improve temperature measurement accuracy of the melt-filled mold.
The present invention provides apparatus as well as method for casting metals and alloys using a pyrometer positioned outside or inside of a casting chamber and relative to a mold heating element in the casting chamber to view a region of a hot melt-filled refractory mold to improve accuracy of the mold temperature readings.
In a directional solidification embodiment of the invention, the pyrometer is disposed at an elevation outside or inside the casting chamber to view the mold along a viewing path above an induction coil and through an opening in a tubular susceptor disposed about the mold. In another directional solidification embodiment, both the tubular susceptor and induction coil include openings through which the pyrometer views the melt-filled mold from outside or inside the casting chamber. In these embodiments, the pyrometer is positioned to view a uniform profile region of the melt-filled mold having multiple mold cavities as the mold and susceptor are relatively moved.